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TimelineX AS1830T: Ultraportable Core i5

Was looking to replace my walk-around laptop (an Acer Timeline 1810tz) with a more powerful one but still want the same form-factor, size and battery life.

I checked out the equivalent ones from Lenovo (the IdeaPad U160 looks nice) and Asus over at Amazon but could not find one so I ended up looking at another Acer upgrade — the TimelineX.

There were actually 2 models of the Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T — one with a Core i3 330UM running at 1.2GHz (2 cores, 4 threads) and the one with a Core i5 430UM running at 1.2GHz as well (2 cores, 4 threads). The only difference between the two is that the Core i5 has Turbo Boost up to 1.73GHz (will be useful when I’m using Photoshop, Cyberlink MediaShow, Movie Maker and Canon Photo Professional).

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-3721
Core i5 430UM @ 1.2GHz (up to 1.73GHz Turbo Boost)
4GB DDR3 RAM (max 8GB)
500GB SATA HDD
Intel HD Graphics 128MB
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0
Gigabit LAN
HDMI port
5-in-1 card reader
3 x USB 2.0 ports
Windows 7 Home Premium
Li-Ion 6-cell battery @ 5800 mAh
3.1lbs
Price: $699.99 (see Amazon listing here) or around Php31,800

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-3721
Core i3 330UM @ 1.2GHz (no Turbo Boost)
3GB DDR3 RAM (max 8GB)
320GB SATA HDD
Intel HD Graphics 128MB
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0
Gigabit LAN
HDMI port
5-in-1 card reader
3 x USB 2.0 ports
Windows 7 Home Premium
Li-Ion 6-cell battery @ 5800 mAh
3.1lbs
Price: $599.99 (see Amazon listing here) or around Php26,400.

So it was a tight choice between the two — with a $100 difference, you get an extra 120GB storage, 1GB more RAM and Turbo Boost with he Core i5. Not bad at all. The price point is just about right and I’m guessing that once they are available locally, the prices will be somewhere around Php38k to Php45k between the two.

The only other concern is the battery life. I’ve been using the Timeline 1810tz for about 6 months now and I’m impressed with the battery life which is between 4.5 to 6 hours, depending on the power settings.

The CPU of the 1810tz (Pentium SU4100 1.3GHz dual core) is rated at just 10watts while the Core i5 430UM is rated at 18 watts. So, in terms of battery life, I am worried that the TimelineX will have a little less battery life even if Acer claims it still has the same 8 hours (optimal) as the rest of the models in the Timeline series.

From experience, the closest specs I’ve tried was a Core i5 470UM (1.33GHz, Turbo Boost 1.87GHz) system from that Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 13 I reviewed earlier. And guess what, I was only getting around 3.75 hours on the 5800mAh battery there. Four hours of battery life might not cut it for me as I’m more used to 5 to 6 especially when I’m on the road.

I still ended up buying the Core i5 model, just for review purposes here but if I’m not satisfied with the battery life, I think it will just go to the “for sale” bin and I’ll go back to the old laptop.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

36 Responses

  1. Avatar for coach coupon coach coupon says:

    Become acquainted with the design regarding coach coupons 2012.

  2. Avatar for Ms. D Ms. D says:

    I’ve seen this in i3, 2GB RAM, 250GB SATA in some stores in megamal. but i’m yet to find the i3, 3GB RAM, 320 GB or the i5 one here, any idea where i can find one?

  3. Avatar for flowershops that deliver flowershops that deliver says:

    Gripping take on this publication in TimelineX AS1830T: Ultraportable Core i5 . I for one have heard many turns on this and can often recognise the traps in the discussion or process even so, on this occasion I am struggling. There is no smoke without a fire and on that point there are no comments without posts.

  4. Avatar for sleepygeepy sleepygeepy says:

    @All

    I think the Acer Aspire 1810TZ is still the king of battery life when ultraportables are concerned. It’s that great combination of Intel ULV processor, high watt-hour battery, LED-backlit screen, and Intel graphics that makes 6 hours or more possible on this ultraportable. Of course the graphics is as basic as it gets, but if you’re not into playing games then this notebook would satisfy most of your portable notebook needs.

    For those looking for similar performance but with better graphics, the Acer Aspire 721 (single core) or Acer Aspire 1551 (dual core) might be a better choice. Of course with the more powerful graphics and AMD processor, battery life is around 4-5 hours which is still not bad.

    One big concern I have about the new Acer Aspire 1830T is that even if the battery life is less than the 1810TZ, will the performance be significantly faster than the 1810TZ? Also the price of this ultraportable (if it becomes available locally) will most likely be significantly higher, probably in the Php 30K plus range. So is it worth it? :(

    @Yuga
    If you’re not in a hurry to upgrade. Have you thought about waiting for the new AMD Fusion based ultraportables to come out? :)

  5. Avatar for normanski normanski says:

    how much was your total “landed” cost? how much does tax cost?

    im thinking of buying one thru amazon this week.

  6. Avatar for Vatch Vatch says:

    This is for people with real work in mind.
    It gets the job done because its fast.
    But the GPU, if they changed it to low end nvidia or ati would be great.

  7. Avatar for eonzerimar eonzerimar says:

    ganda ng features and price :)
    medyo hindi lang Linux friendly ang acer/emachine but for my friend/client i do recommend acer/emachine (for price and features) and hindi naman sila heavy user

  8. Avatar for Marky vedar Marky vedar says:

    where do buy this laptop?. i like it because its more portable than my laptop right now..

  9. Avatar for Spidey Spidey says:

    Ouch, ouch.. So, Abe.. shall we proceed with the i5, and get 5hours max only?

    Or, shall I buy 1810 again. Haha!

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